On 19 Jun 2006 21:45:03 -0700, "Hill Top Woolies"
> spewed forth :
>
> >I have found that wool isnt a hobby, its a passion. I have yet to meet
> >a spinner who 'likes' wool
>
> What's not to like about it? I do have other fibers in my stash but
> 99% of my spinning is done with wool, or wool blends.
Wooly I think that that was a mistake in writing, there is most likely a word gone missing...LOL
Els
> +++++++++++++
>
> Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET.
> This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%.
> Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...
Thank you all for the warm welcome, I did mean that I love wool, and the way I read your post Wooly, I think you understood that. I live in rural northern Nevada on 5 acres with my sheepies, horses, dogs, cats, kids and hubby, and they are all a lot of work lol. But I love it! I have a web site that has some of my adult sheep on it and our babies from last year, but I haven't had time this season to put up the new babies. I will let you all know when I get a chance to. The address is
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work as a fire dispatcher in the summer and am not able to get awhole lot done.Other fibers are fun also, but there is no better pleasure than, as youpointed out Els, dipping you hands into a freshly shorn fleece andselecting a lock to run through your fingers, its almost nirvana :) Allmy sheep got sheared this past Monday, so I will be haveing fun when Iget home!! My dorset, the first picture if you go look at that site, had triplets this year and raised them all!! I was so proud of her, this is her second year lambing and it worried me when I realized she'd had triplets but she did great! The second picture is of my corries, the ewe is in front. She has the most beatiful wool I have seen in my short but active wool career, but has a hard time raising more than one lamb. I have had two bottle babies out of her so far, not sure if I will breed her again. Anyway, the rest are all just as special in their own ways and I love em all! I will visit often as I can, glad to have found some kindred spirits :) ~~Becky
Opps! Forgot to mention that I crochet, and I am learning to weave. I have a 46" Nilus Leclerc jack loom that I am torturing with my untrained hand ;-)
Wow, you lucky woman, what wonderful sheep (I am sure with many hours of "groan" hard work). You have 4 horses or 2 in different poses...? See what I know about horses, other than that I bring apples and carrots to the two (Mother and Son) horses from our neighbours, when I get our mail from the mailboxes, yes we live a rural life, but no sheep, donkeys, dogs or cats. Just to two of us retired folks...LOL
You are right Becky, Corriedale sheep have a wonderful lovely fleece. Nice crimp, medium staple and are great spinners. In your case lovely colours as well. Great that you can compare, and feel the difference between a wool breed and a meat breed. You will find that a Suffolk and Dorste fleeces are very different when you spin them. Less distinction in crimp, and often harder to spin as well, a bit more spongily.
Does your wool go to a mill to be processed. I can see you sitting with fleeces high above your ears. Maybe you belong to a coop and that it where you fleece go to. I am sure that the coloured Corriedale does not go anywhere but from skirting to sorting to washing and spinning right at home.
Just to keep you going, I think that Nevada is a very dry state, great for the raising of Mohair goats....LOL
Hi Becky, I've just read your posts and enjoyed looking at the pictures even though I don't know much about sheep. Reading about your daughter in 4-H reminds me of long-ago days when my sister and I were so envious of 4-Hers who raised and showed sheep. We had cattle, pigs and chickens on our farm and my dad insisted there was no space for the sheep. So we got to have pigs instead but showing pigs just never had the appeal that sheep did. LOL
I have two horses now, but I did have all four. The second dark bay was the daughter of the first; the golden dun was a very nice gelding, I ended up haveing to sell them both. I still have the first dark bay mare and the sorrel mare. I do have a nice angora goat, her name is Blue Girl, I know, not to original but I didnt name her :) I sent some wool to be processed last year but I didint like it when I got it back; it was carded and was pilly. However, Yolo wool mill does combing and I think I will send some out this year to them. Most of my corrie I process myself, just cause I enjoy it, no coops around where I live. 99% of the people there that have sheep (and those who dont) wouldnt have a clue what a spindle was if you handed it to them. My dorset's wool was very nice last year (shearling) and I am hoping it is so again. It even had a nice defined crimp that I didnt expect at all. The breeder told me that she breeds for size, comformation and wool quality. She shows every year in the Nevada State Fair and does well, even in the wool categories. I will enter Belle's wool (corrie ewe) this year, and probably one of the merino crosses. I have a ball at State Fair with my daughter and the other 4-H sheep girl, and am able to get my spinner fix at the wool tent :) Anyone else here lives close to Nevada? Some adjacent CA counties can participate in the NV State Fair.... ~~Becky
Becky what a difference good sheep husbandry makes as far as quality fleece goes. I was speaking in broad lines, and indeed there are good down breed fleeces. Nice that your breeder paid attention to that. I like the name Blue girl, for your angora goat, very fitting. Have you worked with her fleece. I love spinning agora goat. Mohair is just great in your hands and it dyes well also. Kid mohair is just a dream to work with. It felts well (again in broad terms, some fleeces better than others) Mohair is also great to spin fancy yarns with, like a boucle.
Thank you for all that horse information. All kinds of terms, I come across, when i do my weekend cross word puzzles...LOL Bay, Dun, Gelding, and Sorrel. I am far away from where you live. North West and across the border on Vancouver Island. If I was closer I would love to come by and visit you, sounds like a wonderful place to be
Becky, I just have to say that I am green with envy... :-) I am a country girl stuck living in a city (hopefully that will change eventually...) I think your animals are lovely! I don't spin or weave, but it is one of the things that I intend to learn to do because I find it absolutely fascinating. My ultimate goal is to quit my job and live in the country where I will produce all or most of the food my family will eat, and spend all of the rest of my time creating things with yarn and textiles. Some things to keep, and some things to sell and give away. I would also like to live off the "grid" and have an alternative home (such as an "earth ship" or hay bale home) but I have a feeling that my hubby will never give up cable TV so there will be compromise... :-)
And I thought I was geographically challenged!!! LOL Thats ok, seriously, I am horrible at remembering where a place is. I have a great sense of direction for where I am at, but beyond that, I am lost :)
Els, dont forget the chinchilla and the cockatiel! Going home tomarow, hopefully I will have time to get some pictures of the lambs up in the next couple of days! ~~Becky
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